Old Knoxville Base Ball

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Following up on the City League of 1902, I next found mention of the league in the paper a few weeks after they started. Two games each have been played. And the C.M. McClungs are on top of the standings.

Perez Doyle was born in 1872, being 30 years old when he managed the South Knoxville team. According to his death certificate he died of "cancer of stomach" in 1939. He's buried in the New Prospect Presbyterian Church cemetery just off of Sevierville Pike, behind Chapman Ford Crossing in south Knoxville.

Baseball between colored teams was not uncommon in and around Knoxville at this time. But who was John Singleton? In the 1900 US Census there's a John Singleton who was 28. No occupation is listed for him.

In 1910 we find a John Singleton who is now 38. He's a city policeman, married with a daughter. Ten years later he's 48 and a city detective.

Chicago's Broad Ax, a black paper, carried the story of his appointment.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

For the summer meeting of the East Tennessee Chapter of SABR, I took a bit of time and assembled a list of players born outside of the United States that have played for a Knoxville team
according to Baseball-Reference.com

I assume that this list is not complete as there are some limitations on Baseball-Reference. Some of the data just isn't there.

The players are listed in chronological order of playing time. I decided to stop at 1965 as the influx of foreign born players started to greatly increase and time was running out to do the research for the meeting.

Phil Nadeau - born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1872
Played outfield for the 1909 Charleston Seagulls / Knoxville Appalachians of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1894 to 1914

Dutch Schesler - born in Frankfort, Germany in 1900
Pitched for the 1936 Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association
His minor league career spanned from 1920 to 1943
He played 17 games for the 1931 Philadelphia Phillies

Jack Aragon - born in La Habana, Cuba in 1915
Played catcher for the 1939 Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association
He was back with the 1950 and 1951 Knoxville Smokies as both player and manager
His minor league career spanned from 1937 to 1951
He played 1 game for the 1941 New York Giants

Earl Cook - born in Stouffville, Ontario, Canada in 1908
Pitched for the 1941 Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association
His minor league career spanned from 1932 to 1946
He played 1 game for the 1941 Detroit Tigers

Al Campanis - born in Kos, Dodescanese, Greece in 1916
Played infield for the 1942 Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association
His minor league career spanned from 1940 to 1948
He played 7 games for the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers

Lou Polli - born in Baveno, Italy in 1901
Pitched for the 1942 Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association
His minor league career spanned from 1922 to 1945
He played 5 games for the 1932 St. Louis Browns
He played 19 games for the 1944 New York Giants

William Casanova - born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1930
Played outfield for the 1956 Montgomery Rebels / Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1951 to 1956

Jacques Monette - born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1930
Played outfield for the 1956 Montgomery Rebels / Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
Played outfield for the 1957 Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1950 to 1958

Bill Diemer - born in Woodslee, Ontario, Canada in 1931
Pitched for the 1957 Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1951 to 1957

Dave Roberts - born in Panama in 1933
Played for the 1957 Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1952 to 1966
He played for three seasons in the Majors (Houston and Pittsburgh)
He later played for seven seasons in two different Japanese Leagues

Arnold Hallgren - born in Winfield, Alberta, Canada in 1933
Played outfield for the 1959 Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1952 to 1961

John Ryan - born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada in 1939
Played infield for the 1961, 1962, and 1963 Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League
His minor league career spanned from 1960 to 1971

The 1963 season saw six foreign born players. The Smokies were part of the Detroit Tigers’ organization.

It got me thinking about the team. I'm familiar with most of the major teams in the region during that time, and it didn't ring any bells. The McClung family was prominent in the physical formation and the economic life of Knoxville. I assumed that the the team pictured was part of an industrial or city league. I'm haven't sharpened my equipment or uniform dating skills in quite some time, but the style looked like it could have been from the late 1890s to the early 1900s.

I was able to make my way to the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection to do some research in their holdings. I first looked in the vertical file stacks. Thanks to the wonderful staff downtown I finally found some folders about the C. M. McClung company. Newspaper clippings, anniversary booklets, things like that. Interesting stuff, but nothing that talked about a company baseball team.

Then to the newspaper microfilm. I first looked at the Knoxville Tribune from the summer of 1898. I found some baseball articles, but nothing on the McClung's team.

Then I started searching the Journal & Tribune from the summer of 1902. Bingo!

On page 5 of the July 18th edition of the Journal & Tribune I found a schedule for the City League.

Six teams would be playing forty five games from the middle of July to the middle of October.

The teams were:

Brookside

Knoxville Foundry and Machine Company

Shamrocks

South Knoxville

C.M. McClungs

Y.M.C.A.

They would spend their Saturdays playing on the grounds of Brookside Mills, Somerset, and Chilhowee park.

Journal and Tribune - July 18, 1902

Looking through the 1901 Knoxville City Directory I found that H.C. Gildard was probably Henry C. Gildard, a foreman at the Brookside mills. He lived at 1347 Chestnut.

J.T. O'Connor is a bit harder to identify. There were several James and Johns. The only J.T. was a John T. O'Connor. He worked as a driver (and later a clerk) at the Jung Brewing Company. He boarded at 304 N. Central.

T.P. Condon might have been Thomas P. Condon, who I found in the 1901 Knoxville City Directory. He was working for the So rwy (Southern Railway) and was boarding at 931 Asylum Ave. Something in my gut tells me this isn't the guy. I don't find him in the 1900 US Census in Tennessee nor in other local City Directories.

Looking through the 1902 Knoxville City Directory I found an advertisement for C.M. McClung & Co.

In the near future I'll share how the McClung's team fared and how the league finished.

You'll note that I didn't directly answer the question that was posed. I know that a baseball team sponsored by C.M. McClung & Co. played in the 1902 Knoxville City League. I don't know if the above photo is of that team.

My new mantra is: There's more research to be done.

My thanks goes to Linsday Kromer of The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture for permission to use the team image and to the staff of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection for their assistance (and patience) in helping guide me in my research.

UPDATE (July 24, 2015): Christine Johnson from the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture shared this additional information:

On the back of the negative are the words,
"McClung Baseball Team
3/24/23
Glass Plate Neg.
Orig. Photographer - McCoy
313 Gay St."

Monday, June 22, 2015

It is currently the All-Star Break for the Southern League. While doing some research for foreign born players for Knoxville teams I came across Jack Aragon.

Angel Valdes (Reyes) Aragon was born in Cuba in 1915. According to Baseball-Reference.com his minor league career started with the 1937 Greenwood Giants of the Cotton States League. He caught for the 1939 Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association. He was back in Knoxville in 1950 and 1951 as a player / manager. The following article lists Aragon's first name as Art. I don't know why.

In 1950 his team went 0-12 to start the season. By the time that the Tri-State League had their All-Star game in July the they had improved to a very respectable 49-36, hanging on to second place, right behind Spartanburg.

I'm not sure how the All-Star team was selected in that league, but it looks as if the first place team played the All-Stars. Maybe a Best versus the Rest.

The reporting of the All-Star game was very slim at GenealogyBank.com. This was the only note I found. The All-Stars pummeled the Spartanburg Peaches 19 to 4.

Greensboro Daily News - July 18, 1950

The Sporting News, from the PaperofRecord.com site, came through with some game details.

The Sporting News - July 26, 1950

The only player of the Knoxville All-Stars to make it to the major league was Harvey Gentry who played in five games for the New York Giants in 1954. He came to bat four times and got one hit for a .250 BA.

Note: Selection to an All-Star game does not guarantee any future success in the sport.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

I try to keep up with a "This Day in Knoxville Baseball History" to feed to Mick and Justin over at the Smokies Radio Network. They like to add the stories to their pregame show for some color and stretch.

This post isn't exactly a "it happened on this date" but to celebrate the Lookouts are coming to town today.

Back in August of 1889, the Knoxville Reds hosted the Chattanooga team, at the time known as the Chattanoogas.

The local press tried to set the expectations, letting fans know the Reds would have a tough go with the visitors.

The Knoxville Journal - August 7, 1889

The press wasn't so kind after the games.

The proof of the pudding is in chewing the string. Last Thursday Chattanooga sent a large sized pudding to Knoxville, in the shape of a base ball team. The Knoxville Reds sized up the pudding, gave it six or seven white washes and gulped it down with as much ease as an anaconda would swallow a mouse.

The Knoxville Journal - August 10, 1889

The Reds won all three games and the sportswriter saw fit to put their fielding and batting averages for the series in the paper. He also included the a zinger to close.

Following is the latest catechism that every Knoxville boy repeats before going to bed:
"Where is Knoxville?"
"Knoxville is situated in East Tennessee, of which is is the emporium, on the Tennessee river."
"For what is it noted?"
"For being the home of the Knoxville Reds, a base ball organization."
"Where is Chattanooga?"
"Chattanooga is a country village situated one hundred miles from Knoxville."
"For what is it noted?"
"It is chiefly noted for being the home of an alleged lot of ball players who were eaten up by the Knoxville Reds"

The Knoxville Journal - August 12, 1889

You may note several of the Reds players are the same as those featured in this photo, specifically: